Mod Showcase

[Buster's Uncle]

ATTN MODDERS:

DrazharLn suggested a dedicated page showcasing and linking the active mods and the classics, too.  Such a thing ought to raise the profile of all your hard work, and help get it into more hands.

We're thinking a .html page separate from the forum, but have not decided much about the format or the look of the page or anything.  That's where your input comes in.

This is entirely within my own technical competence; please have a look at this that I made:  https://alphacentauri2.info/ResourceCenter/

Definitely, the Mod Showcase page -or whatever we decide to call it and whatever form it takes- will have a button added to the Resource Center and our forum Resources dropdown.  -And who knows what-all promoting at other places.

Now, we could just do it on the AC Wiki and/or a major addition to the Firaxis AC Site downloads page -or a sub-page- and/or a standalone showcase page/pages w/ it's/their own address in this domain.  Maybe all of the above together.

Let's kick this around.  I do all the work, you tell me what you want, and probably supply some sort of branding/title image.  I can help you with that last, if you need.  I'll want Draz participating, as the SMAC-In-SMAX guy and it was his idea.

Thoughts?

[DrazharLn]

I think a short page with a screenshot or icon and a couple of links (forum thread, official project page, download link) and a paragraph or two about each mod would be easy to do and a nice way to show off the work.

Matching the old firaxis theme would be nice.

The intended audience is people who don't know much about the mods and would like to pick one or two mods to play with for their next game.

I think Alpha Centauri Ultimate (https://github.com/EricBruylant/Alpha-Centauri-Ultimate) should probably be linked too. It was good work by ete to collect all those scenarios and custom factions. BUncle, if you're feeling generous, you could also write some prose for the ACU readme, which is currently quite bare, and you or I can make a change request on github and see if Ete likes it.

I think the readme could do with some explanation of how to use all these custom factions and stuff.

[Buster's Uncle]

You know?  I have ete's .zip, saw it the other day and considered replacing the Network Node factions Download file with his collection - do run that past him, since you get along.  Since I'm asking for permission, he gets input on the introduction and stuff...

I'm certainly game for trying at prose for whatever.

[DrazharLn]

Done https://github.com/EricBruylant/Alpha-Centauri-Ultimate/issues/19

I'll let you know if they reply.

[Buster's Uncle]

Coo.  You left out adding to Downloads here, though.  I'm offering in return to just take down the old file he implicitly meant to supplant.  I need ACU easy(er) for me to find when I want to share, for one thing.

Well, he'll probably look in and see that.  ete, we miss you.

[Buster's Uncle]

I poked around at the GitHub, and I see he's added much other stuff, as you mentioned, scenarios and what-not.  I imagine this would call for separate Download files; the original factions-only, which is derivative of my posting and participation to begin with - and all the rest.  He don't like our (yes, crap) Downloads, I don't like his offsite hosting; let's share and crosslink anyway - a rising tide lifts all boats and everybody wins and all that that I do truly believe.

--

-Also, and somewhat related, Altera Centauri https://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?board=16.0 which is every decent-quality scenario Darsnan was able to find anywhere, spanning the 23+ year existence of SMACX, save one or two of our GotMs since, and maybe five Darsnan has made/released since and not gotten into very many hands.  I could fix all that in an hour.

[DrazharLn]

Doooo ittttt

[Buster's Uncle]

Yessir.

I should have before now, but he keeps releasing while in in my low-energy cycle, and I'm very busy whenever we finally do another GotM while I'm manic.  I do not promise today, but if no random events trigger, and soon anyway.



We should do another GotM.

[Buster's Uncle]

Doooo ittttt

In progress.  Had a little lot of tech trouble with --- formatting between forum softwares to make it pretty -Edge tried to paste the rich text and failed messily- and save/attach his pic and not depend on Solver keeping his dead forum up forever hosting it and --- anyway, first one's done, and the rest should be less trouble.  Absolutely everything's at WPC and the rest should happen closer to my original time estimate.  I suck at those when it's me.

[Buster's Uncle]

Got the second in much better order, and fixed Darsnan's grotesque spelling in the title doing it.

[Buster's Uncle]

I've moved a couple GotMs threads, too.

Thinking about organization - our GotMs are in a subforum of the Altera sub.  It has its own Downloads subcategory under Scenarios, two GotMs have individual ones sisko made, the rest seem to be just in Scenarios - I hate to bury our own stuff, but probably best to create a GotM subcategory of Altera for the benefit of lurkers who go up a level from individual scenario pages - in a collection that large and the way things display [epiphany] in Downloads, hey, that's actually featuring our stuff.  I'll do it!

I'm sure there's more Darsnan scenarios -I'm only back to 2016 searching- but I'm multi-tasking w/ forum activity and stuff, and it's past bedtime.  I don't think Downloads GotM category and moving files into it is a big job once I figure how to move, and tomorrow, for sure.

[Buster's Uncle]

Check this out: https://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=downloads;cat=21   

[Buster's Uncle]

I think I've got ittttt doooone.

[Buster's Uncle]

Draz, I see your comment at ete's ACU GitHub is no longer showing - do you have anything to report?

[DrazharLn]

Nope, the comment is still there and I've had no contact with ete.

Congrats on getting it done!